Those are not my words, but those of a full-page advert in the £60,000+ appointments section of the current edition of People Management for a number of roles with Tesco.
As People Management is an official publication of the CIPD, we can safely assume that the advert has been sanctioned by the CIPD as reflecting the image that it wishes to promote of the future of the HR function.
So, for those of you who don't see yourselves as Business Partners, it looks like you're condemned to a life in the wings, playing out your inferior role as an HR Professionals, while the big boys strut their stuff centre stage with the stars of the show.
And sadly this obsession with reshaping the HR function along Business Partner lines is not restricted to the nation's supermarkets.
A recent report by Mercer suggests that we should be concerned that HR directors "spend only 15 per cent of time on strategic work." In the survey, despite 65 per cent of respondents considering themselves as strategic partners to their organisations, the average proportion of time spent on strategic work was only 15 per cent.
HR directors spend only 15 per cent of time on strategic work
It seems that the largest proportion of their time was spent delivering HR services.
What a pain that must be. Just think of all the time wasted on making sure that people are recruited, rewarded, motivated, engaged and developed effectively. Such trivia that we can all do without.
And just think of all those fortunate ones in the Commercial and Finance functions, where everyone spends 100% of their time being strategic, without the need to ensure that contracts are correctly written up, or invoices issued.
I leave you with the words of an excellent article by Graham White (HR director at Westminster City Council) where he cogently argues that "the truth is business partnering doesn’t work"
Who will join me in a cup of Horlicks and a dream in which HR becomes accountable for tangible contribution, and is assessed against real, measurable targets?HR model: dream or nightmare?
Horlicks Original Malt (300g) costs £1.99 in Tesco.
